Teenagers must know the perils: warning

Teenagers and their parents needed to be better educated about the deadly meningococcal disease, the Opposition health spokeswoman Julia Gillard said yesterday, but the Federal Government defended its role, saying it was acting to protect young people against the disease.

Ms Gillard said she supported a Federal Government program to vaccinate at-risk children against meningococcal C, but more needed to be done to tackle the dangers of other forms of the disease. "In the community it's not recognised that whilst you can be vaccinated against meningococcal C there are still other forms of meningococcal you can get, and there are no vaccines available for those other forms," she said.

Doctors say that while meningococcal C is by far the most common form of the disease, two other rare strains, meningococcal A and B, are just as deadly.

Ms Gillard said money spent on the Government's high-profile advertising campaign about the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme could be redirected. "We think that the $27 million Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme advertising, which is seen by millions of Australians that it is not relevant to because they are not taking prescription medicines, is a waste of money."

A spokeswoman for Federal Health Minister Senator Kay Patterson, Sarah Higginbottom, said the Government was spending about $300 million over four years to ensure children most at risk of meningococcal C received free vaccinations. "It's one thing to talk about the risks of meningococcal, we are actually doing something about it," Ms Higginbottom said.

A Health Department spokesman said $3.5 million would be spent to raise awareness of the dangers of meningococcal C.

The Australian Medical Association said yesterday the Government was taking a short-term view by refusing to fund essential immunisations. The federal vice-president Mukesh Haikerwal told ABC radio Senator Patterson should listen to expert advice. "There is a major problem with the financing of public health in general and, of course, immunisation comes in under that public health umbrella," he said.

Last week, the National Health and Medical Research Council added chickenpox and pneumococcal vaccinations to the childhood immunisation schedule, but the Government said it will not subsidise these shots. The pneumococcal jab will cost up to $150 for each of three necessary shots, while the chicken pox vaccine costs $60.